Stuff in the ‘The French Cook’ Category

Holly Herrick loves France and French cooking. And in this cookbook (her third in The French Cook series), THE FRENCH COOK: Soups and Stews (Gibbs Smith, September 2014), she jumps into bowl after bowl of glorious French soups with inspired abandon and a generous dose of classical technique.

Le Cordon Bleu trained chef and former resident of France focuses on the nuances and techniques for expertly layered flavors. Beginning with stocks, she continues with cold soups, classic soups and stews, creamy soups, and consommes in ensuing chapters, each one as delicious as the next.

Similar to sauces (Herrick also penned The French Cook: Sauces), soups are the ideal conduit for creating maximum texture and flavor. Only, with soups and stews, the cooking canvas is much broader and there is a precise yet playful emphasis on presentation and garnishes.

Whether a sumptuous French Onion Soup topped with croutons and bubbling Gruyere, or a riff on a classic sauce in the creamy, velvety Soup Soubise topped with fried shallots, all you need to know about making perfect French soups is neatly tucked between 128 beautiful pages.

In her ninth cookbook, Holly Herrick re-visits her passion, the wonderful, palatable world of Charleston cuisine and chefs. The New Charleston Chef’s Table (Globe Pequot Press, April 1, 2017) is an almost complete revision of the original, published back in 2009. In the latest version, Holly adds almost 75 percent new, fresh copy, recipes and photography, for a total of 80+ profiles on Charleston’s ultra-talented chef pool and their world-renowned culinary art. The history and heart and soul of the city come alive in side bars, lore and photography to make this a book to savor for anyone who’s been to Charleston and wants to relive it, or who dreams to go there.

A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, Paris, recipient of Le Grande Diplome in Cuisine & Pastry, and a long-time former resident of Paris and South Central France, Herrick is a bonafide Francophile with a love for all things French, in particular French food and cooking. She is currently working on some ideas for children’s books, pets and spirituality, and culinary romance novels.

A native of New England, Herrick has called Charleston, SC home for 18. She lives there with her beloved pets and taste-testers Rocky Rocken Roll, a cocker spaniel, and Mr. Purrfect, a grey and white tuxedo cat boy. She holds a BA in journalism (cum laude) from Boston College and has been published extensively as a restaurant critic, and food and travel writer. Her previous cookbooks include The Southern Farmers Market Cookbook (Gibbs Smith), Tart Love – Sassy, Savory and Sweet (Gibbs Smith), The French Cook: Sauces (Gibbs Smith), The French Cook: Soups & Stews (Gibbs Smith), The French Cook: Cream Puffs and Eclairs (Gibbs Smith), The Food Lovers Guide to Charleston and Savannah (Globe Pequot Press), and The Charleston Chef’s Table Cookbook (Three Forks Press). Please visit her web site and blog at www.hollyherrick.com and enjoy this video demonstration: